The present invention relates to a textile winding machine having an operator accommodating package readying assembly and, more particularly, to a textile winding machine which circulates individual tube support members that support empty tubes, partial yarn packages, or full yarn packages in a closed loop that includes supporting the individual tube support members in a portion of the closed loop at a convenient height for providing an operator with ready access to the tube or yarn packages.
In one known type of textile machine arrangement, the delivery and discharge of yarn packages to and from the winding units of the machine are substantially completely automatic operations, except for manual doffing whereby an operator removes empty tubes by hand and supplies full yarn packages. In one arrangement of this type of textile winding machine, a so-called round magazine is provided which supplies a new feed package to a supply package delivery portion of the textile machine in response to an indication that the supply of feed packages awaiting winding at the winding units is in need of replenishment. The round magazine includes a plurality of pockets each for storing a feed package in readiness for supply to the feed package delivery portion of the textile winding machine and the round magazine itself must eventually be re-supplied with fresh feed packages after it has supplied its full complement of stored feed packages to the feed package delivery portion.
One situation which can occur in a textile winding machine arrangement including a round magazine is a situation in which the winding unit or the group of winding units being supplied by the round magazine encounter a relatively high number of partial feed packages or feed packages whose yarn ends cannot be successfully engaged by the winding unit or units. In this situation, the winding unit or units discharge the partial feed packages or unsuccessfully engaged feed packages without winding the yarn therefrom and request new feed packages to be supplied by the round magazines. Accordingly, the round magazine supplying the respective winding unit or group of winding units experiencing unwindable feed packages is emptied at a relatively faster rate than the other round magazines and this can lead to a production slowdown or shutdown if the particular round magazine becomes empty significantly prior to the time at which the round magazines are cyclically re-supplied with feed packages. As can be understood, the winding unit or group of winding units associated with the round magazine which has become rapidly empty stand idle during the time between the emptying of the round magazine and the re-supply of the round magazine during the cyclic re-supplying of the round magazines. German Patent Documents DE-B 12 78 308 and DE-A 26 50 699 each disclose textile machine arrangements designed to accommodate manual package re-supply operations in which an operator replenishes the full yarn packages.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,434 to Mori et al discloses an apparatus for transporting packages doffed from a spinning frame to a textile winding machine and the apparatus includes a horizontal portion located at a height for the convenience of an operator. Each of the winding units of the textile winding machine includes a through-path extending between a delivery path and an exit path for delivering yarn packages individually supported on peg trays to the winding unit and for transporting the peg trays to the exit path following unwinding of the yarn from the yarn packages by the winding units. The downstream end of the exit path is connected to the horizontal portion at which an operator performs manual doffing operations to doff the empty bobbins from the peg trays and place fresh yarn packages on the empty peg trays. The horizontal portion is connected to the entrance path as well so that the peg trays travel in a continuous loop between the winder and the horizontal portion at which the operator performs the manual operations. The horizontal portion at which the manual operations are performed as well as the inclined sections which raise the peg trays from the exit path to the horizontal portion and lower the peg trays from the horizontal portion to the entrance path are located at one longitudinal end of the textile winding machine. Accordingly, the space requirements of a textile winding machine incorporating the Mori et al apparatus are greater than those of a textile winding machine without such an apparatus. Accordingly, the need exists for a textile winding machine arrangement in which a sufficient supply of feed packages to the winding units can be assured and which additionally offers the advantages that an operator can conveniently monitor the replenishment needs of the textile winding machine and can readily attend to the re-supply of the textile winding machine with fresh feed packages in a manual operation.